The wife of a jailed British dad in Iraq is fearing for his life after receiving a distressing phone call from his prison.
Brian Glendinning's wife has revealed that she fears he is unwell after receiving a distressing phone call from his prison in Baghdad, Iraq.
Glendinning, 43, from Kincardine, a small town on the north shore of Fife, Scotland, was jailed in Iraq over an unpaid £20,000 Qatar bank loan, reports Edinburgh Live.
The dad-of-three was due to start work as a construction engineer at a BP oil refinery but was detained after flying into Basra International Airport on September 4.
He was then left shocked to discover that Qatar issued out an Interpol Red Notice over the unpaid debt - which was taken out by the 43-year-old in 2016.
His family have also previously reported that he had been paying back the money of the loan, until the point where he was forced to give up his job the following year due to ill health, report the Daily Record.
Wife Kimberly, 39, has now revealed she fears for his welfare amid claims of "terrible conditions" behind bars, and has said she received a heart-breaking call from the detention facility where Brian has been held for over a month.
The worried wife said: “He’s not well. He has no energy. I really think he’s given up. The conditions are terrible.
“We’re trying to get paracetamol for him and a visitation by the embassy. It’s disheartening when you hear stories from others who have been jailed for over a year before eventually being exonerated and released.
“Brian’s in an extreme situation, it’s unimaginable and it could happen to anyone”.
Meanwhile, his brother, John Glendinning, who also works as an engineer, has been campaigning for his sibling’s release and to reunite him with his loved ones.
Commenting on the situation, Radha Stirling, an extradition crisis consultant who has been helping the family, said: “He doesn’t stop. John is constantly messaging me asking what more he can do.
“It’s a desperate situation and they are well aware that they could lose their beloved family member. No family should have to go through this. Brian’s MP has written to Qatar’s Ambassador to the UK to step in and help."
And Douglas Chapman, MP for Dunfermline & West Fife, said: “I’m aware of the case involving Brian which has been raised with me as his MP. We have been in touch with both the family here and the Foreign Office in London and Baghdad.
“Through the efforts of Brian’s family, their legal people on the ground in Iraq and with the support of the Foreign Office and Radha Stirling [a campaigner on unjust detentions], we are trying to secure Mr Glendinning’s release and his safe return home to Scotland."
Chapman added: “With the World Cup due to start soon in Qatar this is not the time for the event’s hosts to be in the news for all the wrong reasons and I hope, in this case, good sense can prevail.”
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: “We are providing support to a British man who has been arrested in Iraq and are in touch with the local authorities.”
